Hinkley: Daron Banks sacrifices family time for Hinkley community

Barstow High School teacher and Hinkley resident Daron Banks, 44, stands in the middle of a desolate road in Hinkley on Thursday, March 7, 2013.
Rachel Luna — Staff Photographer

Eighteen months ago, Daron Banks made a pact with his wife, Reanna.She would pick up some of his household responsibilities so that he could spend more time on the chromium-6 issue, which has plagued Hinkley for decades.Banks and his family want to eventually leave Hinkley, but Banks has vowed to hold Pacific Gas & Electric Co. accountable for polluting the town's well water, even if the family moves to another town.Banks believes his biggest achievement to date is getting the utility company to hire an independent expert to conduct a key study on the chromium-6 problem. The expert is John Izbicki, a research hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, who has a 20-year background studying the Mojave Desert.In April, PG&E cut the state of California a check so Izbicki could be hired to write a proposal for a new study to look at the key question surrounding the Hinkley Valley's chromium-6 contamination plume: What was naturally occurring and what amount was caused by PG&E's operating practices?"I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he can do an independent study," said Banks, 44. A previous background study determined that the Hinkley Valley groundwater had a naturally occurring chromium-6 level up to 3.1 parts per billion. But that study was flawed and thrown out."Having worked as a schoolteacher and being in the military, I know how to command attention," he said.Banks, who had been part of the new leadership of the Hinkley Community Advisory Committee, resigned from the CAC last spring."I think I can accomplish more for the Hinkley community working on my own," Banks said.